I scanned through Washington Square Park in search of the Hawks but was more focused on looking for the Hawks along 7th Avenue because the fledgling and adult Hawks had been spending time there lately. Well, that area was devoid of Hawks during the hour I searched.
I returned to the park and just barely caught sight of a Hawk’s tail feathers low on a One Fifth Avenue perch:
The Hawk then tucked in further and disappeared.
I got to a better vantage point and saw that it was Sadie, the female resident Hawk, on One Fifth:
It was about 20 minutes later when a fellow Hawk-watcher told me they saw Juno, the new male Red-tailed Hawk, on the other side of the same building top.
We moved over and spent the next 25 minutes watching Juno:
Sadie leapt off her perch and dove lower to the buildings lining 5th Avenue:
I did not see what she was pursuing/flying to. She was back on One Fifth 10 minutes later.
She sat next to Juno:
It was a beautiful early summer day today and there were lots of people walking around enjoying the weather and tons of traffic rolling down 5th Avenue.
Sadie left Juno’s side and flew around One Fifth and headed toward the park:
My Hawking friend saw her by NYU’s Silver Center (a building along the eastern side of the park).
Juno keeping watch atop One Fifth:
Another half hour passed when we saw Juno chasing a young Red-tailed Hawk from the area. This youngster had part red, part striped tail feathers so that was pretty neat.
The young Hawk in the upper part of the photo below:
A closer look at this sub-adult:
All the Hawks disappeared on me and I had to go anyway. It would have been great to see or hear the fledgling today but I knew I was taking a bit of a risk going to the park during a routinely nappy/resty time. However I was pleased to see Sadie back ‘home’ at the park rather than at 7th Avenue or further away.
Hi R_P,
Are you pretty sure that the young hawk that was chased away was not one of Sadie’s fledglings?
Yes, I am sure. The solid red tail feathers in the middle indicate this young Hawk is molting into its first adult plumage. You can see close-up shots of this phenomenon on this Pale Male page showing this mix of young and adult tail feathers in a young Hawk.
From what I’ve read, Hawks’ adult tail feathers typically start growing with the two innermost feathers first. Then the rest of the adult red/orange tail feathers begin to develop.
This year’s fledglings seem way too young to start developing these red feathers.
Our park’s fledglings typically leave the park in early to late August and none of those birds had begun to develop red tail feathers.
Thank you!!!
Roger, are two of the babies in rehab right now? You referenced “the fledgling” but that is a singular bird?
Yes, the other two fledglings are still in rehab right now.